Ryan Shoots First: Agatha All Along (S1 Ep5) “Darkest Hour Wake Thy Power”

Man, a lot happened this week on the Witches Road. This episode did end up feeling a little rushed but it was a fun one. So far the season has felt pretty well-paced and the 30-minute run time has worked but this week could have been around 42 and reminded me of some of the Star Wars episodes that were moving at breakneck pace.

We do get some fun moments at the start around witches and their brooms. I have mentioned before how the show plays with the concept of witches and how they actually function in the real world. They are not far from the caricatures that exist both in our world and theirs and at times they actively look to subvert those stereotypes and labels. But sometimes you just gotta get back on the broom. 

As you have probably picked up we are back to another trial but this time with some unwelcomed guests also on the road. This accelerates everything from the trials to Agatha’s internal struggle and a twist at the very end that moves the plot into the next phase. One thing I liked about this episode was how the journey from cold-hearted killer villain to plucky loveable anti-hero does not come without some backsteps. A one step forward two steps back if you will, and this week Agatha takes a pretty large step back. This all helps the arch feel more real as often when people are trying to rehab they experience some progress but the first time things go bad they tend to dive deeper into their issues than they ever have, seeing themselves now as failures, disgraces and not worth saving. This is what really destroyed Anakin, it wasn’t when he turned but when he realized how irredeemable he was. Lucky for us Marvel has already knocked this formula out of the park with Loki but he got the benefit of multiple movies and two seasons of TV to do it. We will need to see how long Agatha has to pull it off, if at all. 

Observations

• Interesting first time seeing other living things on the road.
• Haha, good moral, DTA. 
• Broom Lore!!
• Agatha’s little handle is cool
• Sweet shot
• That Plaza witch scream was fantastic.
• Sleep over!
• What a concept Parker Brothers was on to there.
• Hahaha “Heyyyyy girl”
• Kathryn Hahn doing it all this episode.
• Plaza is so fun to just watch whatever she’s doing. 
• We’ve all been there with our mothers am I right?
• Geeze mom, wonder why she turned out evil. 
• Nicholas! 
• Dang they really had Agatha kill her.
• Damn that was Agatha saying “Yea you’re doing it for selfish reasons too”
• Oh Shit!